Eenest oldenbusch



(No Model.)

B. OLDENBUSOH.

POCKET BOOK, BAG, OR PURSE FRAME.

Patented June 12, 1888.

Winemsvew:

UNITED STATES PATENT rrrcn.

ERNEST OLDENBUSCH, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO WILLIAM SGHIMPER & 00.,

OF SAME PLACE.

POCKET-BOOK, BAG, OR PURSE FRAME.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 384,386, dated June 12, 1888.

Application filed May 9, 1888. Serial as. "273,315 (No modcni To all? whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, Banner OLDENBUSCH, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York, in the county and State of New York, haveinvented certain new and useful Improve ments in Pocket-Book, Bag, and Purse Frames, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactspecification, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to that class of pocket book, purse, and bag framesin which the two hinged members of the frame when closed are secured by a clasp consisting of a swinging bar, which is hinged to one member of the frame, and which is operated by a spring in its hinge to drop over the other member and en gage therewith.

The improvement will be hereinafter fully described, and its novelty pointed out in the claims.

Figure 1 is a plan or top view of my frame, partially opened and partly broken away and sectioned to better show the interior construc tion. Fig. 2 is a side elevationof my invention. Fig. 3 is a transverse section taken on thelinexcvof Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a similarsection on the line 3 y of Fig. 2, and Fig. 5 is an under side view of a portion of the frame and clasp.

Similar letters of reference designate corre sponding parts in all the figures.

a a designate the two members of the frame made in two parts or members hinged together at ai as usual, at their lower outer ends and made of anyform, size, or material usual in or suitable for similar articles. 'To the top ofone of the hinged parts of the frame a are secured, in any suit-able manner, two small tubular pieces, I) b, one or both of which is on theinner end, formed with a spiral or inclined surface, Z), as clearly seen in Figs. 1 and 2, and in one of these tubular pieces I) is firmly secured, by riveting, soldering, or other suitable means, a pintle, a, the end of which projects beyond the inner end of the tubular part a sufficient distance to act as a hinge-pintle for the securing clasp, as presently described.

The securing-clasp of my frame consists of a bar, cl, either solid or hollow, as herein shown, provided with a tube or cylinder, at, on one side secured to or forming an integral part of the bar, as the case may be, and one or both ends of this cylinder are formed inclined or spiral, as indicated at 1/1), to correspond with the form of the inner ends of the parts Z1 1), be tween which this cylinder lies and moves. This cylinder is hinged upon the pintle a, projecting from one of the tubular parts 1) into one end of the cylinder, and a corresponding pintle, c, secured firmly in the other end of the cylinder (1 and projecting into the other tubular part b, as best seen in Fig. l, where it will be noted that the space between the inner ends of the two pintles is filled by a spiral compression -spring, 6, acting lengthwise to press them apart, as will be readily understood. lhis clasp, hinged to one of the parts a of the main frame, may be provided with any suitable meansofengagingit with the other partof the frame--in the present instance the frame being provided with small studsf and the clasp-bar formed with holes or sockets f to receive them I To prevent the hinged clasp from falling too low when the frame is opened to admit of the ready closing of the frame, I form the cylinder d and one of the tubular parts I) at the end of their inclines or cams with shoulders gg,which abut and form stops to hold the clasp always in such position that the frame a will pass beneath it, and may be thus snapped shut without the necessity of specially lifting the clasp. I also prefer to form at the other end of the cams a similar stop, g, to prevent the clasp from being turned back too far in opening the pocketbook or other frame.

The operation of the device will be readily understood from the foregoing description. When it is desired to open the pocket-book or bag, the bar (Z is lifted, releasing the hinged frame and permitting it to be readily opened. Thisliftiug of the bar d turnsthe cylinder d, which,by reason of the spiral or inclined sur' faces, is thereby given a slight endwise move ment, which compresses the spring 6, the tension of which at once throws the clasp back to its normal position on being released, and effectuall y holds the parts of the frame when they are closed. It will be particularly noted that no twist or torsion is given to the spring by the motion of the clasp, but that it is compressed endwise,and this construction renders it much stronger and more durable and less liable to get out of order.

The bar (I is herein shown as hollow and struck out together with the cylinder d in one blank from sheet metal and then shaped to suit, butit will be evident that it is not ma terial to my invention whether the bar is made solid or hollow. In small framessuch as used for pocket-books and pursestl1e length of the clasp is usually such that it forms a complete cover for the meeting edges of the two hinged portions of the main frame; but in largerframessuch as would be used in bagsthe relative length of the clasp will not of course be so great.

I shall use the inclined surfaces 1) 1/ upon one or both ends of the cylinder d, as deemed most desirable in practice, and form the tubular parts I) b to correspond. These parts b b are secured to the main frame in any manner giving the requisite strength; but in Figs. 3 and 4, I have shown them as formed or provided with small projecting lugs or cars 71, which are passed through the frame and clinched upon the inside, forming a secure fastening which does not show and is entirely concealed from view. Instead of being formed of nearly the whole length of the frame,as herein illustrated, the tubular pieces I) may be quite short, forming mere eyes in which the pintles are held. It is evident that as one pintle is secured to the frame and the other to the clasp, the effect of the spring is the same as if hearing directly againstthose parts instead ofupon the ends of the pintles.

\Vhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination,with the hinged frame, one member of which is furnished with catches, of a swinging bar for engaging with such catches, having a connection with the other member of the frame by a hinge-joint with spiral abutting surfaees,and aspiral spring arranged within said hinge-joint and exerting a pressure lengthwise thereof, substantially as and for the purpose herein set forth.

2. The combination, with the main frame made in two parts hinged together, and the tubes b,secured to one ofsaid parts and termed .with spiral or inclined end surfaces, of the swinging clasp hinged between the tubes and formed with corresponding spiral or inclined surfaces,a compression-spring bearing against the tubes and the clasp, and stop-shoulders at the ends of the inclines to limit the motion of the clasp,substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. The combinatiomwith the' main frame a, the tubes 1) 12, secured to one member of the frame, and formed with the inclined surfaces 1), and the projecting pintle c, secured in one of these tubes, of the clasp provided with the cylinder d,having inclines to correspond with those upon the tubes, and provided with the pintle c, and the compression-spring e, placed between the ends of the pintles, substantially as and for the purpose set fort-h.

ERNEST OLDENBUSCH.

\Vitncsses:

HENRY J. lVICBRIDE, MINERT LINDEMAN. 

